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Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House’s big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife, have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine; Anders hates his father’s business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone’s relief; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions.

Sharing a week with this unlikely cast of characters is pure joy, full of Maeve’s trademark warmth and humor. Once again, she embraces us with her grand storytelling.

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Editorial Reviews

Published posthumously, the late great Binchy’s last novel is an appropriately heartwarming and spirit-restoring swan song. In classic Binchy style, the gentle story is populated with a large cast of often eccentric, always endearing, characters who effortlessly weave their way in and out of a deceptively simple narrative. Stone House, a country inn on the West Coast of Ireland, is owned and operated by Chicky Starr, a Stoneybridge native lately returned after living a largely lonely life in the U.S., and it serves as the cozy setting for these interrelated tales of love, loss, friendship, and community. Specializing in winter holidays, Stone House plays host to a variety of guests whose lives are bound to change for the better once they succumb to both its vintage charms and the restorative powers of companionship and human kindness. Pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up, and prepare to savor this bit of comfort food for the soul. High-Demand Backstory: The late Binchy’s last hurrah does not disappoint; expect even more demand than usual for this final love letter to her legion of fans. --Margaret Flanagan

Review

“Fittingly, this posthumously published work by Ireland’s beloved lady of letters is itself a love letter to her homeland. . . Binchy offers a final chance to enjoy her winning characters and the charm of Irish culture. . . Reading this novel is like ducking out of a cold rain into a fire-warmed pub filled with laughter.” —People

“Lovely. . . Tailor-made for an afternoon jaunt through the backcountry of western Ireland. . . Binchy’s last novel radiates the warmth and charm that fans of the late Irish author will recognize and relish. . . . [her] prose is conversational, comfortable and populated with a cast of colorful characters that run the gamut from droll to dry. . . a delightful diversion.” —Mary Cadden, USA Today

“A hopeful, loving novel chronicling lives shaped by good deeds, small favors, and honest counsel along the rocky crags of the Irish coast. Fans of Binchy and newcomers to her work alike should consider themselves fortunate to have been left such a clear-eyed and open-hearted final gift.” —The Daily Beast“A Week in Winter goes perfectly with a cup of tea. . . . a gratifying, blustery read full of rich characters, a sea-spray setting and a compelling plot that carries the reader from start to end. . . . Binchy has created a book that envelops its reader in the same calming serenity that Stone House provides its inhabitants.” —Shelly Walston, The Wichita Eagle

“A treat as rich as a box of chocolates.” —aarp.org

“The late great Binchy’s last novel is an appropriately heartwarming and spirit restoring swan song. In classic Binchy-style, the gentle story is populated with a large cast of often eccentric, always endearing characters. . . Stone House, a country inn on the West Coast of Ireland serves as the cozy setting for these interrelated tales of love, loss, friendship, and community. . . . Pour yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up, and prepare to savor this bit of comfort food for the soul.” —Booklist

“Classic Binchy. . . her fans will find solace as hearts mend and relationships sort themselves out one last time.” —Kirkus

More About the Author

Maeve Binchy is the author of numerous best-selling books, including Nights of Rain and Stars, Quentins, Scarlet Feather, Circle of Friends, and Tara Road, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection. She has written for Gourmet; O, The Oprah Magazine; Modern Maturity; and Good Housekeeping, among other publications. She and her husband, Gordon Snell, live in Dalkey, Ireland, and London.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I always fall into a book by Maeve Binchy like falling into a warm bed ona snowy evening, enveloped in a gloriously cozy down duvet, the lamp on, awarm drink to hand, ready to be swept away to a place of caring and compassion.

Her theme is always the same - people, confronted by difficulties in life, badluck or hard times, and how the choices they make lead to a better life, or onethat is (by their own actions) shut down and made smaller.

Ireland is not only the setting, it is also one of these characters - beautiful andtroubled, or glorious and hopeful; more likely all of these.

Maeve has died, and now that I have read this book, there is that sad realizationthat there aren't going to be any new characters to meet - but I will be re-readingall her books, including this one, which I think is one of the best.

If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy's works, you already know these characters, andthe plots. You know the place - only a small part of the book is set in Dublin; mostof it is in the West, in a village on the coast.

As usual, there are a mis-matched group of near-strangers, brought together for an arbitraryoccassion - this time it is the opening of a small inn - each with a life problemthat must be confronted (or, notably for one character, avoided) and how thatplays out.

The pleasure is in spending time with these people as they face up to their problems,or fail to, and the understanding (and compassion) for people that Maeve alwaysshows.Read more ›

I first read the late Ms. Binchy's works when I was a teenager several decades ago. Circle of Friends was the first Binchy book I read and its story of friendships, loyalty, heartbreak, and love was so well-told that I devoured as many of Ms. Binchy's works as I could. Since then, I have read each and every one of Ms. Binchy's works and have all of the titles in my home library. Her works are what I would describe as cozy reads yet they deal with family and relationship problems in a very down-to-earth manner, making the characters seem altogether real and each of the stories never failed to resonate with me, though admittedly some are better than others.

In Ms. Binchy's last novel (she died sometime last year), the setting is a coastal Irish village called Stoneybridge. Chicky is an Irish woman who followed her heart years ago and left for the States with a young American man named Walter who turned out to be too restless to be tied down and eventually leaves for greener pastures. Luckily Chicky's independent spirit refuses to be cowed by this and she finds a steady job and trains as a pastry chef while building on other skills. Back in Ireland, Chicky's family thinks she is doing well, unaware of what really happened and so when Chicky eventually returns to Stoneybridge, her family welcomes her as a prosperous 'widow'.

Chicky decides to buy the old manor house owned by Ms. Queenie Sheedy and converts it into a hotel which caters to people looking for some respite from their busy lives, people who just want to get away from it all. Like many of Ms. Binchy's books, the chapters in the book focus on one character at a time, both the guests as well as the people running the hotel, and explore each character's story. Fans of Ms.Read more ›

I was so sad to read of Maeve's passing, but so happy to have another beautiful book. I call her books beautiful as you become so involved in the story that you see Ireland, the people in the story and feel a part of the story. this book is another hit and Ireland become's another destination on my bucket list. Blessings to Ms. Binchy's family she will be forever missed.

In my opinion this is her best book. Great read about the different personalities of people who end up as guests for the opening week of a new B & B & the staff employed to run it. A mixture of very different people who end up there for various reasons & circumstances & what happens when they are all dining together every day. A heart warming tale.

When Maeve Binchy passed away on July 30, 2012, the reading world lost one of its brightest lights. As a fan who has read every one of her novels and short story collections, I was deeply saddened but happy to know she had left her readers one final gift. The novel she had just finished would be published as a final tribute to this amazing chronicler of Irish family life.

With her unparalleled way of writing heartwarming stories that explore the deepest emotions, Maeve Binchy enchants one final time with this story set at a bed and breakfast on the Irish coast. The innkeeper is Chicky, a woman who grew up in the small village of Stoneybridge but left years ago, against dire warnings from her family, in order to follow her American lover. When she finds herself jilted and alone in America, she weaves a fantasy to tell her family and keeps the fantasy going for years. Finally, she returns and purchases a once grand but now dilapidated estate called Stone House and dreams of turning it into a holiday home for travelers. The work is hard but made easier when a midnight call from Nuala, an old friend from school days who fled to Dublin to hide a pregnancy, puts Chicky in touch with Nuala's son Rigger, now a full-fledged juvenile delinquent wanted by the Dublin police.Read more ›